Russia Adopts New Nuclear Doctrine – West A Threat

The dreams for a new Millennium of peace and goodwill so
amply demonstrated around the world on New Years Eve, seems
dashed within days as Russia publishes a revised security
policy document broadening the terms for use of nuclear
weapons. John Howard writes.

Over the weekend there was so
much news about that it was hard to know what subject our
readers might be most interested in.

A 5 cents tax
per-email, the AOL/Time Warner merger, worldwide political
strife, the Vietnamese military making a $600 million
profit. The choice was wide.

But for me, it really became
no choice at all. The awakening Russian Bear just had to be
the one - because in the end it is probably the story which
may affect us all more dramatically than any other.

A
newly published 21-page official Russian document entitled
Concept of National Security, broadens the possible
scenarios in which Russia would use nuclear weapons.

A
1997 document had used the vague definition which called for
the use of nuclear weapons "in case of threat to the
existence of the Russian Federation as a sovereign
state."

But the new document says nuclear weapons can be
used "in the case of the need to repulse an armed
aggression, if all other methods of resolving the crisis
situation are exhausted or have been
ineffective."

"....have been ineffective" seems to be a
direct inference to Russia's ineffectiveness in
Chechnya.

The 1997 document was signed by then-President
Boris Yeltsin and changes to it last year were drafted at a
time of tension over the NATO attack on Yugoslavia and at
the beginning of the conflict in Chechnya which has drawn
Western condemnation.

Significantly, the revisions were
overseen by Vladimir Putin, now Russia's acting president,
but at the time of drafting was then head of the Kremlin
Security Council. Now, as acting president, he signed the
new document on January 10.

The document codifies much of
the language used in Russia's objections to the NATO attack
on Yugoslavia.

For instance, the 1997 document notes the
emergence of a " multi-polar" world after the Cold War. But
the new one goes further and criticises the US for trying to
create "unilateral" solutions to global problems with
military force, "sidelining the basic founding standards of
international law."

The 1997 document suggested there was
no serious threat outside Russia, but the new one says, "the
level and scale of threat in the military sphere is
increasing."

The document also says that NATO's use of
force outside the alliance's borders without the sanction of
the UN and the incorporation of it into NATO's doctrine last
year, "is fraught with the threat of destabilisation of the
whole strategic situation in the world."

While the old
doctrine included the prospect of Russia working in
"partnership" with the West, the new one instead talks about
"cooperation."

In another change, "military" has been
substituted for "defence" throughout the document. It also
speaks about increased defence spending saying it has been
neglected and Russia's readiness has reached a "critically
low level."

In another dramatic move, Putin and Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, have also rejected appeals
from the US for Moscow to end aid to Iran's missile and
nuclear programmes. They describe the relationship between
Teheran and Moscow as vital.

They have reassured Iran
their government would not halt the flow of technology to
Iran's missile programme. They said the aid would continue
despite the prospect of additional US sanctions.

Russia
regards Iran as a key ally in confronting what they term as
US hegemony. Officials say other key Russian allies include
China, and India.

Perhaps one of the most important
changes in Russia's new policy is that the West, for the
first time, is openly described as a potential threat to
Russia's security which was not part of the of the 1997
document or even an earlier doctrine prepared in
1993.

Col. Gen. Valery Manilov, deputy chief of Russia's
general staff, said the new language is an effort to
describe "more clearly and specifically the conditions of
usage of nuclear arms."

But the scenarios of the possible
use of nuclear weapons are considerably broadened and that
does not bode well for the start of the 21st Century.

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